Tom Powers: A long afternoon for Twins' Mike Pelfrey, and everybody else

Twins starter Mike Pelfrey rubs his head after giving up three straight hits in the fifth inning without recording an out against the White Sox at Target Field in Minneapolis on Wednesday, May 15, 2013. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

Good heavens, throw the ball toward home plate. Get it back from the catcher and throw it again.

There was too much standing on the rubber, sighing, squinting, looking around, grimacing, sun-bathing ... The result was a 3-1/2-hour slogfest. On a perfect day for baseball, we got trapped in the quagmire. Oh, and the Twins lost to the White Sox 9-4.

As Tom Kelly used to say: too much standing around in the field. And, I'd add, dozing off in the stands.

Mike Pelfrey took so long to pitch to Adam Dunn during one at-bat that I was able to walk to the corner gas station, buy a Slurpee and get back to Target Field in time to see the baseball bounce against the fence. Even some of the Twins players and coaches who usually hang over dugout rail went and sat down during that at-bat. A lot of foul balls and a lot of time between pitches.

In fact, in facing Dunn three times, Pelfrey threw him 23 pitches. That probably accounted for about an hour of our afternoon.

"Pelfrey, an on-going process," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "At times he's getting on top and the ball is sinking good. And other times the ball is kind of flat across the zone."

That's when he coughs up a lead. He's done that a lot.

"We'll just keep running him out there and see if we can get better as we go along here," Gardenhire said.

Pelfrey is making a famously quick return from Tommy John surgery. He's worked hard. But April was pretty close to being a disaster. In May, he's had a good outing against Cleveland and a not-too-bad outing against Baltimore.

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The Twins are trying to speed him along. Guys run out to their positions as fresh as daisies, only to come off the field with five-o'clock shadows.

Against the White Sox, Pelfrey couldn't retire anyone in the fifth and had to be lifted. With men on base, which was most of the time, his pace was glacier-like. Overall, he gave up eight hits and five runs and saw his earned-run average climb to 6.57. The Twins coaches haven't quite figured him out. Pelfrey might not have himself figured out as he comes back from the surgery. He may not yet trust his own ability.

"To come out and get a two-run lead and not be able to hold it again, it stinks," Pelfrey said. "It's frustrating. I didn't pitch very well today. I'll try to get better. Today I wasn't as sharp as I would have liked to have been. I'll have to figure something out."

I'm sure they are telling him to get after the hitters -- attack the strike zone -- and work quicker. But Pelfrey has been struggling in both of those areas. From what I can tell, he has an infinite leash, meaning he'll keep going back out there forever, or until his contract runs out. After all, he's done it before. And it's tantalizing to think that he could do it again.

He might, too. We all know that a pitcher coming back from Tommy John operates in fits and starts. They all tend to show progress and then take a step back. The theory is that as Pelfrey gets stronger his results will improve. But he's on a one-year deal, so the hope is that he does something for the Twins this year and not just for the team that signs him for 2014.

Coming back from Tommy John so quickly is remarkable. But a 6.57 ERA is a 6.57 ERA. And repeatedly coughing up leads can really wear down a ball club. Pelfrey has given up 57 hits in 38 innings this season.

If nothing else, he needs a smoother pace. The White Sox fouled off a lot of pitches against him, and that didn't help. But there were times when he clearly was laboring. That can suck the life out of things.

The Twins had other issues on Wednesday, including a hope-killing misplay at third base by Eduardo Escobar and an overall lack of clutch hitting. But overall they are doing surprisingly well in this young season. They've been around .500 and, as important, have been in most every game.

If Pelfrey can get things ironed out he'd provide a real boost. Right now, he's coming along oh so slowly. But at the very least, if he's going to struggle, he should struggle in a timely manner.